The following are the industry best practices recommended for any Viking Host customers that allow adult content to be uploaded by users (UGC Customers):
1. Verified Uploaders Only
Only users who have verified their age and identity should be permitted to upload adult content on customers’ sites. UGC Customers must ensure that all uploaders are over the age of 18 and must use industry-standard age and identity verification services.
2. Banning Downloads
Downloading of amateur adult content should be prohibited and the feature not enabled on the customer’s platform. Any adult content downloads should only be permitted from verified content partner studio accounts.
3. Content Moderation Team
UGC Customers should have a dedicated human content moderation team that is trained to identify and take down illegal and abusive material. The content moderation team should be proactive and not only responsive to complaints. The size and composition of the team should be consistent with the size of the site and the customer’s resources.
4. Banned Words List
UGC Customers should develop and implement a list of banned / flagged words (“BannedWords List”) which trigger deletion or review by the content moderation team. The BannedWords List must be consistent with industry standards for identifying illegal or abusive content, and regularly updated.
5. Search Term Monitoring
UGC Customers should engage in ongoing moderation of their customers’ search terms in an effort to identify phrases designed to bypass existing safeguards.
6. Parental Controls
UGC Customers should label their sites in such a way that will allow the sites to be identified and blocked by standard parental control filters.
7. Automated Filters
UGC Customers should use reasonable efforts to integrate automated filters designed to detect illegal and abusive content, such as:
- CSAI Match, YouTube’s proprietary technology for combating Child Sexual AbuseImagery online
- Content Safety API, Google's artificial intelligence tool that helps detect illegal imagery
- PhotoDNA, Microsoft’s technology that aids in finding and removing known images of child exploitation
- Vobile, a fingerprinting software that scans any new uploads for potential matches to unauthorized materials to protect against banned videos being re-uploaded to the platform.
8. Abuse Reporting Tool
UGC Customers should implement a reporting form or feature that allows users and third parties to report illegal or abusive content to the site for expedited review and removal if appropriate.
9. Trusted Flagger Program
UGC Customers should implement a program designed to allow trusted third parties to identify and immediately disable access to illegal content pending review by the customer. Examples of trusted third-parties include: Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (United States of America), National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (United States of America), Internet Watch Foundation(United Kingdom), Stopline (Austria), Child Focus (Belgium), Safenet (Bulgaria), Te Protejo Hotline - I Protect You Hotline (Colombia), CZ.NIC - Stop Online (Czech Republic ), Point deContact (France), Eco-Association of the Internet Industry (Germany), Safeline (Greece), Save the Children (Iceland), Latvian Internet Association (Latvia), Meldpunt Kinderporno - ChildPornography Reporting Point (Netherlands), Centre for Safer Internet Slovenia (Slovenia), FPBHotline - Film and Publication Board (South Africa), ECPAT (Sweden), ECPAT (Taiwan).
10. Underage Content Reporting
UGC Customers should agree to comply with any legal obligations to report apparent underagecontent to appropriate agencies such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children(NCMEC).
11. Transparency Report
UGC Customers should publish, on no less than an annual basis, a transparency reportidentifying their content moderation and removal efforts.
